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Summary

Colour slide taken by Stuart Sanderson, General Manager of Manufacturing at Kodak, of the construction of the Emulsion Coating Building 3, Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory complex in Coburg, January 1958.

Construction of the Coburg complex began in 1957 on twenty three hectares of former farmland. Since 1908, Kodak had been operating from the factory in Abbotsford and had gradually outgrown the premises. The Abbotsford factory remained operational while the Coburg plant was being built until it closed in1966. Architect Harry Norris of H A & F L Norris & Associates, created the design for the new factory and individual buildings, while the building contract was awarded to Lewis Constructions Pty Ltd.

The still uncompleted Coburg factory complex was officially opened on 14 April 1961 by the Prime Minister, Robert G. Menzies with Dr. A Chapman, President of Eastman Kodak Company, in attendance. The complex was the national headquarters of Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd and its manufacture of silver halide photographic products. It replaced the Abbotsford factory where Kodak had been operating since 1908. The Abbotsford premises eventually closed in 1966.

Kodak manufactured and distributed a wide range of photographic products to Australasia, such as film, paper, chemicals, cameras and miscellaneous equipment. Its client base included amateur and professional photographers, as well as specialist medical and graphic art professionals who used photography, x-ray and other imaging techniques.

This slide is part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005, when the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

Description of Content

View of a construction site. In the foreground to the left, two men are walking near a vehicle. Mid-ground to the left is a foundation for a section of a building with a construction worker standing on a timber strut. To the rear of the image is the steel frame for a single storey hanger style building with the roof in place.